The present invention relates to loudspeakers, and more particularly to a stereophonic loudspeaker system wherein loudspeakers are mounted within the opposite ends of a flexible tube.
In the design of sound reproduction systems, one of the most challenging problems is to deliver a substantial amount of sound power in a manner that will produce for a listener an acoustic sensation that resembles as closely as possible the acoustic sensation that the original sound would have produced. To date, a great deal of research and engineering has been applied in the loudspeaker art, to provide the best possible reproduction of sound from electronic sound reproduction equipment. Quality loudspeaker systems currently available are typically large and heavy, although recent technologies have been developed for the production of miniaturized speaker systems. The problem with such miniature systems has been that a certain fullness of sound, for example, the rich range of tones produced by a symphony orchestra, is missing. Larger speaker systems are better able to reproduce the desired fullness of sound.
It would be advantageous to provide a speaker system which accurately reproduces stereophonic sound. Such reproduction of sound should exhibit the desired fullness of tone across a wide frequency range. It would be further advantageous to provide such a loudspeaker system which is portable and adaptable to a variety of different mounting or placement arrangements while maintaining the desired sound quality. Such a loudspeaker system should also be relatively simple and economical to manufacture.
The present invention relates to such a loudspeaker system, which accomplishes the above-mentioned objectives through the use of a collapsable, flexible tube in which at least first and second loudspeakers are mounted. The loudspeakers are mounted at opposite ends of the tube, and oriented to direct sound outwardly from the ends of the tube.
Although loudspeakers have, in the past, been mounted in various tube-like structures, none of these have included a plurality of speakers in a single tube to provide a stereophonic loudspeaker system. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,393,766 to L. H. Mitchell, issued on July 23, 1968 and entitled "Speaker System", discloses the placement of a single electroacoustic transducer within a hollow tube, in order to simulate a stereophonic effect from a monophonic source. U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,988 to John J. Virva, issued on Aug. 21, 1979 and entitled "Fine Tuned, Column Speaker System" discloses a loudspeaker system having a loudspeaker connected to an adjustable air column tube. The loudspeaker is mounted at one end of the tube, with the other end of the tube being closed a damping material. Other monophonic sound reproduction structures utilizing tubes or tube-like members are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,532,811; 1,952,514; and 3,816,672. None of these patents, however, discloses or suggests the use of first and second loudspeakers, mounted within opposite ends of a flexible tube, and oriented to direct sound outwardly from the ends of the tube.